Valley of Decision
by PervyMonk
Summary: So things went fubar at Matanzas, and a mysterious woman sends Seth Gecko back to keep Kate from becoming possessed by Amaru. But can they stay together, or are they destined to be driven apart? Non-canon after "Matanzas".
1. Chapter 1

_God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also-Genesis 1:16_

When he enters the church, all hell breaks loose. The smell of acrid blood burns his nostrils, and the first thing he sees a dark woman shoving her hand through Freddie's chest. Margret screams, and Seth scrambles for his gun, aiming it at the dark woman.

He shoots her once before she tears Freddie's family apart.

Dust billows past him through the open doorway, and its only when he notices Scott missing that it's _ashes._ Before he can blink, the dark woman- _Amaru,_ a desperate and ancient part of him howls-impales her hand through his sternum.

"Seth Gecko," she hisses. "Shame Brasa couldn't have taken your body. I've grown rather fond of you because of her." She turns him, ripping her hand out of him and he slumps back against her chest.

"Kate," his voice breaks when he sees his girl staring blankly at him, surrounded by an ocean of blood.

"I knew her every thought," Amaru says softly, as if consoling him. "And I saw into your soul-I know how much you loved her." She shoves him forward and he stumbles, falling to his knees in a cruel mockery of prayer. He begins to crawl toward Kate, drowning out Amaru's voice.

"Become nothing together in death, free from the longing for forgiveness."

"Kate," he breathes, blood flooding his mouth. "Oh sweet Jesus, _Kate."_ Kate's looking up at him, a glassy eyed stare devoid of love, longing, even hatred. She's _empty_ and he breaks down at the sight of her, weeping in a way he hadn't since he was a child. He pulls her to him, clinging to her even though his own life his rapidly draining from him. _Shit._ It wasn't Guns of Navarone. No Butch and Cassidy freezeframe. It was Dirty fucking Dozen mixed with Cannibal Holocaust.

The Gecko brothers, and everyone they loved or even remotely liked, get consumed by Xibalba.

Time suddenly freezes-he can no longer hear his own blood splashing on the wood floor beneath him. He hears echoing footsteps past the lightness in head. Every second feels like an eternity as looks up to see a woman clothed in an incandescent rainbow dress. She looked like Lupe Velez, ala _The Girl From Mexico_ \- but she wasn't human. She wasn't Xibalban either. He knew that much for sure. She smiled.

 _"Los Hermanos Gecko,"_ she tsks softly. "One job, _Hunaphu_ -one fucking job. Save the world from annihilation."

He tries to speak, but can't find his voice. He feels heavy, and his eyes slowly cut over to Amaru, her face frozen in rage.

"This world found their four horseman in you," she says. She jerks her head north, and he knows that's where his brother is. "Pestilence, burning in the sun." She motions to Freddie, bleeding out in the doorway. "War, ripped apart by a seething rage."

"Famine," she says, her voice kinder as she kneels down beside him. She touches his check, not caring that blood spills over his lips over her fingers. "So starved for love that it consumes his very being." Here, her hand reaches down to close Kate's lifeless blue eyes.

"And death, all out of love to give." The woman sighs, patting Kate on the head as though she were a sleeping child. "She was destined to become death, ever since her mother decided to embrace it. Poor thing." Shaking herself, as if lost in reverie, stands up and becomes stern once more.

"Luckily for you, not all of El Rey wants Amaru to succeed," she says. She holds her hand out, spreading her fingers and a blinding white light shines from her palm. "I'm sending you back, _Hunaphu,_ to where it went wrong in this lifetime."

"Who knows if you and _Xbalanque_ will do better this time, but try not to fuck up so badly this time," is the last thing he hears before everything became a blinding brilliant white."

* * *

"What the fuck," is the first thing he says when he's able to breathe. The brilliant whiteness fades, leaving only the light of the moon. He's behind the wheel of a stolen corvette, breathing in the night air like it's saving his life. He feels jittery, shaking like he needs a fix and bandages cover his flame tattoo. He sees a figure stop almost hopefully in his rearview mirror, and his heart catches in his throat.

"Kate," he breathes, drunkenly stumbling out of the car. "KATE!" She turns, her brow furrowed in the crinkled way that lets him know she's upset, and, mother Mary, she feels achingly real in his arms.

"Jesus, Kate, I thought I lost you," he says into her hair.

"How high are you?" she says flatly, more upset than angry, but he can't bring himself to judge her.

"Jesus," he says again, shutting his eyes against the tears. "I'm gonna keep you safe this time-I promise."

"Seth," she says, her small hands pushing against his chest. "You're scaring me." He forces himself away from her, breathing heavily. He stares at her, meeting her blue eyes in the moonlight, and marveling at the human blush in her cheeks, and the breaths that cause her to tremble.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I'm so sorry. Please don't leave."

"Give me a reason," she says, almost tiredly defiant. He holds his hand up, motioning for her to wait, and almost runs back to the car. He grabs his heroin kit- _his venom,_ his mind taunts-and throws it to the side of the highway.

"I-I can't promise I'll be pleasant for the next few days," he says. "But if you can help me through, it'll-" he stops. _Like it was? Like how he's wanted it to be, but was only too busy drowning in alternating storms of self-pity and self-hatred to take care of the ones he loved?_

"I'll be better," he says softly. "Please stay." She looks at him doubtfully, and he's terrified she'll tell him to fuck off. Her eyes cut to the side of the road then back to him, as if expecting him to go after his kit. He swallows-he's NOT looking forward to detoxing again-but steadily holds her gaze.

"And just like that, you aren't mad anymore?" she says. "You don't want little miss Sunshine to go play in the darkness?"

"The darkness can go to hell," he says. "We're partners." She walks up to him, and he restrains himself from hugging her. She holds her hand out, a tiny smile on her lips. Unsure of what to do, he intertwines her fingers with his.

"Keys, asshole," she says. "We're find a motel and getting some much needed sleep."


	2. Shelter from the Storm

Chapter Two: Shelter From the Storm  
 _"You of little faith," Jesus replied, "why are you so afraid?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.'_ - _Matthew 8:26_

Seth directs her in the opposite direction that he went last time. All things considered, it had been easy for Sonja to find him. His stomach clenches at the memory of the last time he saw her, stake driven though her heart, and hopes against all he knows to be rational that she'll survive this time.

He'd better not see her again or she won't.

Kate drives for hours, humming along with the radio. Once, he thinks, he falls asleep, jerking awake to the sound of imaginary culebra roars. Kate begins to sing church hymns softly, and he drifts off to sleep with her voice chasing away the nightmares.

She stops the car in front of a small, non-descript inn. His head lolls on the headrest as he watches her check them in through the window. She swims in his vision and, though he tries, he can't stop the whimpers that pour from his lips.

He's still whimpering later when he leans heavily against her as she half-carries, half-drags him to their hotel room. She dumps him on the bed and he sighs, rolling on his back as he sinks into the mattress.

"Keep the bullets out of the gun," he murmurs. "Until I finish." She nods, taking both their pistols and disarming them. She does it quickly with unwavering hands, and he feels a stab of guilt at the fact he is the reason she is no longer the peaceful preacher's daughter. The room is an ugly yellow color, miles away from the blue-green of their last room. The door is still open, sunlight pouring in and surrounding Kate. She sits next to him after setting the bullets aside, her hands cupping his face.

"Look at you," she says almost sadly. "You're a mess." He panics- _please be real please berealpleasebereal,_ his mind screams-and he grabs her hands in his. He smiles drunkenly when he feels the warm soft weight of them beneath his palms.

"I'm not gonna leave you," he slurs. "I'm never gonna leave you again." She smiles back at him, brushing hair out of his face. She moves to stand, and he clenches her hands tighter.

"Don't leave," he pleads.

"I'm not," she promises. "I'm just going to shut the door." He lets her hands go, and watches her. He half expects her to leave, but she just closes and locks the deadbolt. She's still surrounded by sunlight, even in the darkness of the hotel room.

* * *

He tries to sleep, but sleep runs from him. He takes in shallow shuddering breaths, and the pounding of his heart drowns out everything else. He sees Kate sitting at the table by the window, looking at him with worried eyes over the brim of her Culebra bible. He sees a shadow hanging over her shoulder, and moans. The Regulator glares at him from the window, his eyes burning over Kate's shoulder, and Seth pushes himself off of the bed. He stumbles just as the Regulator kicks the door open.

"Your brother, Mr. Gecko," he hisses. Seth stumbles back but it isn't enough. The Regulator grabs Seth by the neck, squeezing the life out of him. His eyes cut cruelly to Kate, who simply sits in horror. He pulls his shotgun out, aiming it at Kate's head.

"This one I don't need," he rumbles.

"No, NO!" Seth screams, throwing himself into the shot. He hears Kate screaming his name and, oh God, she's bleeding out, he can see her heart. He kneels down, crawling to her, and tries to shove her organs back inside of her but she is dead, dead, dead, and looking at him with glassy eyes that whisper "I don't forgive you I don't forgiveyouIdon'tforgive-"

"SETH!" He gasps, jerking out of the bed. He stumbles to the table, catching himself against it. He looks underneath his arm to see Kate perched on the edge of the bed, her brow furrowed in worry. He takes in deep, gulping breaths as he looks to see the door still tightly latched, whole and unbroken. He grabs the edges of the table to keep from falling over.

"Fuck," he whispers as Kate's hands support him underneath his armpits. She pushes a chair underneath him and he collapses onto it. "Why can't I have any?"

"You threw it out," she says quietly.

"For you!" he snaps. At the hurt expression on her face, he buries his face in his arms. "I just need a hit, just one to tide me over. Katie, _please-_ "

"Seth," she says, firmly but not unkindly. "You need to get clean. I wouldn't know where to get you some anyway." He chokes back a sob, taking in a deep, gulping breath. She pulls up a chair next to him, and begins to rub the small of his back.

"It hurts," he whimpers.

"I know," she says, her other hand going to her shoulder. He looks up, putting his hand on her arm.

"I can't hurt," he says. "I'm on the clock, here."

"Seth, you just need time to recover." He shakes his head back and forth, a manic eye alight in his eyes.

"No, no, no, I'm on the clock," he says. He pulls the pistol out of the bag on the table. He begins to dismantle it, with shaking hands, and hears the ticking of his father's stopwatch. He lays his hands on the table, and his father hits him because it wasn't fast enough. He flinches, rubbing his forehead and pulls back with blood on his palm. He looks down to see a human heart, ripped in pieces in front of him. He works frantically to put it back together- _it's Kate's heart, he's broken her heart, it's all his fault._ He closes his eyes- _I've done this before it's not real it'snotreal-_ he thinks. He opens his eyes to see the gun in front of him, neatly put back together. He smiles at Kate, and she smiles too. Her eyes flash red, and her smile turns into an ugly smirk. He grabs the gun, hearing Kate screaming at him to end it, but she reaches for him and he drops the gun.

"I can't do it. I can't hurt her. I can't _Ican'tIcan't-_ "He closes his eyes.

"Seth!" He jerks, expecting her to run him through but all he feels are warm hands on his biceps. He opens his eyes to see Kate's blue ones looking at him concernedly, the light still in her eyes. She's as she was, as she should be, and he pulls her by the shoulders into him. He clings to her, shaking like a scared child. She hugs him tightly to her. He buries his face in her shoulder, smelling the scent of her shampoo. He knows he must stink like fear and a lifetime of bad decisions. His skin feels sticky, and he pulls away so he won't drown her in his sweat. She keeps her arms around him, softly shushing him and he limply leans forward, his head pressed against her shoulder.

She begins singing softly again and his eyes drift closed at the sound of her voice.

" _A shade by day, defense by night,  
A Shelter in the time of storm;  
No fears alarm, no foes afright,  
A Shelter in the time of storm."_

As she sings, she leads him back to the bed. He collapses on the mattress and, mindlessly holding on to her, pulls her down with him.

"Stay," he mutters, and she does.

* * *

PS How awesome was the Season 3 finale, right?


End file.
